A friend like Dean
by portmanroxsmysoxs
Summary: When Dean comes back from his life in Ohio and back to the ducks, he's changed in more way then one. The whole team has changed as well, without him. With major catch-up issues, he finds Julie's in way over her head with something dangerous. Can Dean help
1. More than just a surprise

He rested with his head in his chin, not knowing what to do. School was over and he wanted to go down to the rink in Minnesota so badly it hurt. But he couldn't, he lived in Ohio now, away from hockey. "Thanks a lot, dad," he grumbled.   
  
He stayed on the school grounds, wheeling himself over to a table in the shade next to Green Hall and slowly maneuvered his body into a chair, pushing his own wheelchair out of the way. He thought his wheelchair was sissy and stupid. He took out a pen and started to doodle on the table, he knew it was forbidden, but no one was there and he really didn't care whether he got into trouble or not. He actually liked getting into trouble; it was a lot easier than applying himself or anything.  
  
He took his bandanna out of the shoulder pack he carried on the back of his wheelchair and tied it messily around his head. It brought back good times, being a bash brother. Happiest moments of his life. He had been part of a team. Not anymore. Not since the accident. He banged his fist hard on the table and picked up his pen once more, hurling it at the table.  
  
"God, I hate my dad," he muttered and began etching his pen deeper and deeper into the grain of the wood. "It's all his fault," he yelled angrily.   
  
He heard footsteps behind him and turned around quickly in his seat to make sure it wasn't the principal. If he had stayed at Eden Hall, the dean would be watching his every movement, but here at the public school, no one really cared what he did. That was the only good part. But no matter where he went, he was still characterized as the big guy who beats people up, and that was okay with him.  
  
He squinted his eyes and saw someone coming toward him. They were shorter than the principal and he thanked them silently. He couldn't tell who it was, but it looked like a girl. What would a girl want with him? She broke into a jog and came into clearer view.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Ducks, Disney does.  
  
"It couldn't be," he said as he moved his legs so he could sit sideways in his chair comfortably. "No way!" he yelled as the girl came into his sight clearly.  
  
"Dean Portman! Is that you?" she yelled as she came to a grinding stop a few feet away from him.  
  
"Julie Gaffney? What in hell's name are you doing here?" he asked, unable to subside a huge grin.  
  
"What in hell's name are YOU doing here?" Julie asked, laughing. "You belong with the Ducks, Portman! Now get up off your butt and give me a hug," she said.  
  
Dean shrugged, trying not to show any disappointment, "I can't," he said.  
  
"Portman?" Julie asked carefully. She came closer and saw his wheelchair hidden in the shade. "Don't tell me," she whispered under her breath, "Portman, I'm really sorry."  
  
"There's no reason for you to be," he said quickly. He smiled again, "So, come here and give me a hug," he invited.  
  
Julie rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Portman and squeezed tightly. He was so large and her hands couldn't touch each behind his back when they were hugging. It felt so good; finally, someone he liked had come to visit. If only she could take him away, back to Minnesota, back to the Ducks. He felt Julie peck his check and draw away. "God, Portman, I missed you so much," she said, sitting in the chair opposite from him.   
  
He scoffed, "Not as much as I missed all of you guys. But don't tell them that I said that, I don't want them thinking I'm going soft here in Ohio or anything."  
  
Julie glanced at his pen and what he had engraved. It read 'Ducks 4 Ever - or else.' She smiled, "Yeah, I can see that."  
  
"How's Fulton been holding up?"  
  
She laughed out loud, "He misses his brother most of all, it's like he only checks half of the people he used to."  
  
"So what've you guys been up to?" He asked, moving his legs so he could study her worried face in a comfortable position.  
  
"It doesn't really matter," she said quietly, "all that matters is how you're doing, we know about your dad, Dean."  
  
That had to be one of the few times she called him by his first name, he knew this was serious. "Know what?" he feigned innocence, but there was some anger bubbling in his stomach, how could they know? He couldn't call them or write them, thanks to his dad, so how could they know? Is this the only reason she came? To shove it in his face?  
  
"We're taking you back home, where you belong," she said slyly.  
  
"What? You know I can't go anywhere, my dad would never agree to it," Dean said, alarmed. Were they planning on kidnapping him or something? It was now he wished he was back in his wheelchair so he could get out.  
  
"You don't need your dad's permission anymore; your grandparents have agreed to take you in. You're leaving Ohio, dude, whether you like it or not," Julie said, leaning in and pressing her forehead against his.  
  
He drew back in shock, "What? My grandparents? What about my dad?" He ran his hands over his bandana, thinking over what she had just said, was this possible? He had only been gone for six months; could the Ducks have done that for him in such a little amount of time?  
  
Julie looked down at his artwork, "Okay, I understand if you don't want to come, but you've at least got to say goodbye to everyone else…"  
  
"Are you kidding? Of course I want to leave this dump! When are we leaving?" he shouted at her, bringing another contagious grin on his face.   
  
Julie put on another sly grin, "Oh lets say," She pretended to ponder, "right now, maybe? Our flight leaves in four hours."   
  
His eyes grew wide, "Really?"  
  
"Yeah!" she yelled, "so get up and get in the wheelchair, we've got to get you packed!"   
  
Before she could stand up and get his chair, he wrapped her in another hug. It was a huge shock, if felt like it was a dream. This was nearly impossible, he was going back! "Thank you so much, cat-woman," he whispered in her ear. 


	2. coming back home

Disclaimer: I don't own the ducks, any of them. Disney does.  
  
He needed help getting back in his chair, Julie had to hold the chair and grab his elbow when he tried to move. "Thanks," he grunted when he wheeled himself across the blacktop, Julie at his side. "Hey, Julie," he asked when they were walking down the street to his dump of a house," how come you're the only one who came?"  
  
She smiled and continued to walk forward, "The Ducks pooled all of their money together and could only buy one round-trip plane ticket, and Fulton was chosen to come and get you, but he had to go to his mom's wedding. Charlie was…"  
  
"Hold it," Dean said, coming to a stop, "Fulton's mom is getting re-married?"  
  
Julie looked down at her watch, "Actually, she got married an hour ago, to some guy named Frank, and he's really nice."  
  
"Does Fulton like him?" Dean said, wheeling himself faster to catch up with her quick pace.  
  
She nodded, "Yeah, he never complains about him or anything, he's one of the ring bearers, I think. He'd much rather be here getting you, though," she added, laughing. "I swear, you two depend on each other so much, it's like your blood brothers."  
  
Portman smiled triumphantly, "You mean bash brothers."  
  
"Yeah," she grinned, "anyway, Charlie was going to come, but he and the other guys had some hockey game to go to and Connie hates flying." Her smile toned down a little, "My parents still think I'm at the game, staying the night at Connie's. You can't tell them where I went, okay?" she pleaded.  
  
"No problem," he said, crossing his heart, "I promise," he added, putting his hand back on his left wheel, straightening it out.   
  
They walked down the street, reminiscing in good times when Dean turned sharply down a dingy pathway, "Here, follow me," he called back to a confused Julie. She shrugged and followed obediently until they came to a rusty shack. Dean put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet and she nodded back, standing out of the way. He took a key out of his pack and stuck in the door and opened it noiselessly. He leaned in and his face grew pale.   
  
He wheeled himself in a semi-circle and said very quietly to her, "Why don't you go wait for me up the alley, okay? I don't think my dad will be thrilled to see me bringing home you." His face went red a little, "Or any girl, for that matter," he added quickly.  
  
Julie nodded, feeling sorry for him, but only just a little. She turned and walked up the alley, peeking over her shoulder to see Portman enter his 'house' with a scared face. She had never seen him scared, only mad. Bad things happened when he was mad, so what would happen if he was scared?  
  
She must've waited at least a half-an-hour before Portman came wheeling out of the shack very slowly, grabbing at his left bicep every once and while. He looked angry, but this time he couldn't kick anything, he just kept wheeling himself the street in short little bursts of rage. "I hate that guy, I'm never looking back, never coming back," he yelled. Julie stayed quiet. "He thinks he can just beat me up because I can't beat him back anymore, well he's got another damn thing coming!"  
  
Julie laid a hand his shoulder lightly, ready to snap it back if he decided to yell at her. He didn't, he seemed to calm down a little, but just a little.   
  
"Here," Julie said, "I can carry your bag for you," she pointed to the overly-large bag sitting on his knees, looking like it was about to fall off at any moment.  
  
"No, I can do it," he answered gruffly.  
  
"Okay," Julie answered, trying not to sound soft. He hated it when people acted all understanding at him. They walked the entire way to the airport, which took them over an hour and a half.   
  
Julie handed over their tickets, while Portman grew more anxious by the second. What if his dad came after him? That's what he had promised when he had rolled out the door, but he was drunk then, did it really matter now? Julie started moving forward, onto the plane, he trailed after her heels. She and a flight attendant had to help him into his seat, he hated being helped, he was positive if they just left him alone he could do the job just fine by himself. Julie sat by a window and watched the flight attendant wheel Portman's chair away to the back of the plane.  
  
"You ready to go home yet, Portman?" she asked, trying to smile.  
  
He nodded his head, lost in thought. He hardly knew his grandparents. What if dad came and found them? "Hey, Julie?" he asked again.  
  
"Yep?" she asked, looking him in the eye.   
  
"What'll happen to my dad? He's not the nicest of guys, what if he finds me? What'll happen to my grandparents?" he asked wildly, coming up with another burning, irrational question every second.  
  
Julie took a deep breath and so did Portman, "I don't know, I guess he'd go to jail if he tried something."  
  
"My dads already been in jail. That's what drove my mom away, what if I drive my grandparents away? What if I'm not good enough to get back into Eden? What'll happen then?" he asked, looking at her with pleading eyes.  
  
This was a side of Dean Portman she'd never, in all her time of knowing him, seen. He was acting like a scared Adam or Guy. This was not the attitude of her loyal, hockey playing, thug-like friend. He started staring at the pattern on the back of the seat in front of him, a scowl crossing his face as he waited for Julie's answer.  
  
"You're dad's not going to come after you. Even if he does, Ducks fly together. We'll all help. With you combining forces with Fulton again, you two'll be unstoppable," she said comfortingly. "Oh, and," she added, "you've got a scholarship to go to Eden. That must mean you've done well enough to stay," she summarized.  
  
"Okay, yeah, whatever," he responded dully and crossed his arm over his chest gloomily. He closed his eyes and remembered the first time he met Julie and the Ducks. He started humming to himself, then it grew louder, forming actual words, "Don't you know that everything's on fire?" he said loudly.   
  
"What?" Julie asked.   
  
She couldn't remember the song. He ignored her, "Don't you know that everything's on fire?" he kept repeating, liking the sound of it.   
  
Two hours later, the plane landed and Julie stood up. They had to wait for the attendant to bring his chair, subsequently; they had to wait for everyone else to get off the plane first.   
  
They disembarked from the plane, Portman having a hard time maneuvering himself through the throngs of people. "So, where are they?" he asked impatiently, his stomach turning.  
  
"We're a long way away from where their supposed to meet us," Julie said, hoping up and down a few times to see where they were. She looked back at Portman, he was taking to long! She waited for him to get in front of her and then she grabbed the handles of his chair and started to push him forward, faster.  
  
"Hey!" he yelled, surprised. He could push himself, he wasn't tired at all. "I think I can do this on my own," he called back to her sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah, but you're taking too long, I want to get there fast. I don't want my mom to find out where I've been, alright?" she shouted at him, rounding a corner.  
  
He finally gave up his protests after fifteen minutes of bickering. Suddenly, she let go of the handles as they rounded another corner. "What was that all about?" he said loudly, turning back to look at her. Julie was grinning from ear to ear.   
  
"Look in front of you," she called.  
  
He arched his back, but couldn't see anybody he recognized ahead of him, there were too many people in his way. "What?" he yelled back.  
  
She stood on her toes and waved to someone she couldn't see. A figure came blitzing through the crowd and hugged her lightly. "So, I guess he didn't come, huh?" Charlie asked solemnly.  
  
Julie let out a huge laugh, "Oh, he came," she retorted.  
  
Charlie looked behind her and over his own shoulder, "Then," he said slowly, "where is he?"  
  
Julie shook her head at his ignorance and pointed over to where Dean was sitting.  
  
"Conway, you blockhead," Portman said with a small, gruff laugh.  
  
Charlie looked taken aback for a moment, but he sighed and said, "Portman! You came! I didn't waste my Christmas money for nothing, then." He gave Portman a small hug as well.  
  
"Captain Duck, where's the rest of your squad?" Portman asked, leaning forward in his chair in hopes to see higher.  
  
Charlie grinned, "Follow me," he motioned and Julie walked by Dean as he carefully wheeled himself between strange people.  
  
They came upon the rest of the team waiting at the exit doors. Guy had his arm around Connie's waist, Ken and Goldberg were chatting it up, and Fulton was crouching down on the floor beside Averman looking for a lens that had fallen out of Averman's glasses.  
  
"Look, there's Julie!" Adam said, standing on his toes to see over the crowd. Dwayne appeared right behind him, his ears were as big as ever and he was wearing another ridiculous cowboy hat, "Yeehaw," he yelled, "it is!"  
  
"Where's Portman?" Guy said, looking behind her for Dean.   
  
Fulton got up and looked around too. His eyes rested on the guy in the wheelchair. "No way!" he yelled.  
  
"Portman!" Connie yelled, running forward to give him a hug.  
  
"Portman!" the rest of the team yelled, crowding around him.  
  
He grinned, "Miss me, guys?" he asked, holding out his arms.  
  
"Ya'll bet your lucky stars we did," Dwayne said, looking at his wheelchair.  
  
In fact, everyone else was too. His demeanor went down a little; he was still the same guy, right? How was he supposed to handle this one?  
  
Fulton slapped him hard on the back, "Good to have you back, buddy," he said jubilantly.   
  
"Yeah!" a chorus echoed cheerfully.   
  
"Nice tux," Portman said sarcastically to Fulton.  
  
He grinned dramatically. "So," Charlie interrupted, "let's go back to the rink for some pizza!"  
  
Another chorus of agreement exploded and they held the door open for Portman to go through.  
  
Outside waiting was a van. Coach Bombay was inside. "Portman?" he yelled from inside. "Is that you?" he shouted again, getting out of the driver's side to check out his new wheels.  
  
"Yep, coach, I'm back!" he yelled and let out another yell. He was finally free.   
  
"Wow," Bombay said, looking him over, "you've definitely changed."  
  
"That's what everybody keeps saying," Portman said, "I'm sporting the wheels this year," he added with a grin.   
  
"Well, let's get you in the car," he said, eyeing the van.   
  
They all felt the urge to help Portman, but he was capable of doing it himself. He simply got out the chair and sat on the ground of the van, and then he put his arms on the seat and hoisted himself upward. He smiled triumphantly, that had shown them he wasn't weak. 


	3. Julie's hurting

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the ducks or anything. Shoot. Disney does.  
  
It felt great to be back, his friends surrounded him, but they did their greetings and banter more apprehensively than before. Wasn't he the same big old tough guy who had Ken onto the net the first day he had met the ducks? But now Ken was towering above him, laughing at some dumb joke. Great.  
  
He hadn't noticed them lace up their skates until Goldberg was pushed onto the ice, thanks to Averman's clumsiness. Some of the others joined them, only Fulton and Julie remained. Portman eyed the rink hungrily; he wanted to be out there, pushing someone around, like the good old days.  
  
"I'm gonna go get my skates," Fulton said, turning his back to Julie and Portman.  
  
Julie looked at him and then back at Portman, "Hey, grab mine too, okay?"  
  
"No problem," he called without turning back to see the look of disappointment on Dean's face. He cleared his throat and replaced the look with his normal one, tough.  
  
"Oh please," Julie said, watching him change. "We're not leaving to skate without you, you're coming out on the ice with us, you big doof," she laughed. "We wouldn't leave you out on your first day back."  
  
He grinned without thinking, "Yeah, okay," he said.  
  
Soon, Julie was on the ice, Portman and Fulton right behind her. "Hey, Germaine!" she called, "pass me that beach ball!"  
  
"No, I'll get it," Adam volunteered, skating as fast as he could over to Julie, "here you go," he said sweetly. Portman tried to keep his eyes out of their business, but he couldn't.  
  
"Hey, Fulton," he whispered up to his friend.  
  
"Yeah?" he said loudly.  
  
"Keep your voice, down, will ya?" he hissed. "What's up with the namby-pamby stuff between Jules and Cake-Eater over there?"  
  
Fulton shrugged, "They broke up a couple of months ago and now he's trying to sweet-talk her back into it."   
  
She grinned and took the ball, "thanks," she said, "now, let's play!"  
  
It was hard for Portman to play, seeing as his wheels would slide on the ice, making it impossible for his brakes to be effective. They stopped playing after a while and sat in the bleachers, chatting and eating.  
  
Dean noticed how everybody had little by little changed since the last time he had seen them all. Charlie had grown out his hair, but Adam was still an obsessive snob, Dwayne, Averman, and Goldberg hadn't changed at all, Connie had had a growth spurt and was now taller than Guy, but only a little bit. He noticed Fulton and Julie laughing out of the corner of his eye. They were the ones who had changed the most to him. Fulton had gotten skinnier and Julie had cut her hair. Those were the only changes, so why did they look so different to him? Maybe it was because he had changed their images around in his mind, gotten confused about who they really were, it had been so long.   
  
"Good news, Portman," Fulton yelled at me.  
  
"What?" he yelled back, amused.  
  
"You're rooming with me at Eden when we get back," Fulton yelled again.  
  
"Wonderful," Portman yelled back.  
  
Of course, the whole team could hear them; Fulton was just a few feet away from him. They were brothers again.  
  
"Hey, you've still got my Pearl Jam poster on the wall!" Portman said, wheeling himself into the newly-expanded dorm room he now shared with Fulton.   
  
"Yep," Fulton said, dumping Portman's stuff on his bed. He stared at the clock, could it really be that late? Yep, it was after one eleven o'clock at night.   
  
After a few minutes of incoherent jabbering and helping Portman put his stuff away, Fulton crawled into his own bed and stared at the ceiling. He could hear Dean struggle to get into bed, it must've been tough.  
  
"God, I love being back in my old bed, with my old buddy," Dena said to him, staring at the same ceiling.  
  
"Yeah, dude, the Ducks are glad to have their enforcer again," Fulton said with energy.  
  
"I'm not going to be able to enforce anybody but the kindergarteners from now on, dude," Portman reminded him.  
  
"Yeah, I know, even then I'll have to help you with them," Fulton laughed. He got a pillow chucked at his right ear. "Anyway, the whole team is happy now to have you back." He thought for a moment, "Especially Julie, I haven't heard her talk that much or laugh that loud in a whole long while," he said softly.  
  
"What are you talking about? Julie always laughs," Portman said with a shrug.  
  
"Not anymore, not since she started dating Adam," Fulton said, wanting to get off the topic. He already said more than he should have.  
  
"I thought you told me they broke up," Portman said sternly. What was he doing? Julie's business was JULIE'S business; he had no right to go nosing around in it. But, he couldn't help it, Julie was his teammate, she had rescued him, no questions asked.  
  
"They did, she just hasn't been the same, it's like she's decided not to talk at all," Fulton said quickly. Then under his breath he added, "Not since the first bruise."  
  
"Fulton, you get a lot of bruises playing hockey," Portman said, obviously hearing what he had muttered.   
  
"Look, just forget it, okay?" Fulton said, turning on his side.  
  
Portman stared at his back, "What's the big deal?"  
  
"Nothing, let's just get some shut-eye, okay?" Fulton yelled over his shoulder.  
  
"Geez," Dean scoffed, rolling over onto his side. "What a way to start off."  
  
At one o'clock that morning, there was a slight tapping on the door. Fulton got up immediately, while Portman awoke. He heard little sobbing noises and Fulton entered the room, his arm held comfortingly around someone's shoulders.  
  
"Can I borrow a bandage for my wrist?" a girl whispered.  
  
Fulton sat her down on the bed, Portman pretended to be asleep, but rolled over on his other side to watch what was going on. He opened one eye and saw Julie. She was crying into Fulton's shoulder. He was stroking her hair, his beefy arm still around her shoulder.  
  
"It happened again, I think my wrist is sprained this time," she choked out, glancing at the mass in the other bed that was supposedly a sleeping Portman.   
  
"You've got to let me tell someone about this, Julie, it's just going to get worse!" Fulton whispered to her, getting up to get a wrap for her wrist.  
  
Julie sat there on the bed, holding her hurting wrist with her other hand, she looked terrible, her hair was in knots and there were tears running down her red and swollen face. Who had done this to her? What happened? Fulton knew something about it, how come he just hadn't told him when he had asked?  
  
He watched as Fulton carefully took her hand and gently wrapped the bandage around it. "There," he said when he was finished.  
  
"Thanks Fulton, I owe you one," Julie said in a clearer whisper. She had obviously stopped crying. She hugged him and went to the door.  
  
"Just tell someone, okay?" Fulton called after her. The door shut. Fulton sighed and crawled back into his bed. "Thank God Portman didn't hear any of this," he said aloud.  
  
Dean joined the rest of the group at breakfast the next morning. He looked over at Julie first thing, she had taken off the bandage Fulton had given her, but she had a bruise below her ear that she kept trying to cover up with her hair. When she reached to pick up her milk, she winced and set it back down and used her other hand.   
  
"Hey, Portman," Ken called from a few seats away from him, "you wanna come watch practice today after school?"  
  
He had a lot of homework to catch up on, so naturally he said, "Yeah, sure."   
  
He was welcomed back to his classes with looks of pure intimidation from his classmates. Even though he was confound to a wheelchair, that still didn't mean his bravado had gone down the tubes. Luckily for him, he was so tall, he could stare some kids in the eye. He sat up tall in his chair, leering up at the kids who had the guts to stare down at him. Julie just laughed when she saw him in the hallway trying to look menacing. He stopped trying so much after that.   
  
Portman, what are you doing sitting there? Get out here on the ice where you belong," Coach Oryan grunted at him the minute he saw him.  
  
"Yeah, sure coach, nice to see you too," Dean grumbled back, trying to wheel himself over a bump to get onto the ice. He felt a push from behind, it was Charlie.   
  
"Thought you could use some help," he said lightly and sped away.  
  
"No thanks, Charlie, I think I can get over this bump just by myself, but thanks for asking!" He yelled after him sarcastically. He let out an angry sigh and slowly wheeled himself down near the goal Julie was defending in today's scrimmage.   
  
At one point in the game, Luis had skated around the net and crashed into him. He was so focused on the game that he didn't even apologize, he whizzed off down the rink to the blue line. "Mendoza, one of these days…" he muttered violently under his breath and bent down to take the brakes off his wheels so he could go check him into a wall.  
  
"Hold up there, big guy," Julie called to him, keeping her eyes on the game. "You know you're never going to be able to stop once you get going," she added from behind her mask.  
  
"Shut up, I don't need any babysitter," he said, "but thanks anyway," he managed to add.   
  
He could detect Julie's shoulder pads move, she had shrugged it off! Julie was always a fighter, how could this have happened? The Julie he had known would've come over and kicked him in the shins, not that it would hurt him any, and maybe have said a few choice words in his direction.   
  
Adam skated by, he winked at Julie out of the corner of his eye and did a fancy move. Portman could've sworn he saw Julie retreat back into her net, even though Adam and her were playing on the same team. He grinned and sped off, what was that all about? He had nothing to prove to her, they all knew that he was going to be the most successful out of the lot of them, so why flaunt it now? Sometimes it felt like he couldn't hold back from kicking Adam's butt.  
  
He kept his eyes on Julie, once he had been gone from her zone for a while, she seemed to shake herself and got out of the net. His stomach did something weird, like a flip…or a flop. What was wrong with her?  
  
"Dude, why'd you stay down at Cat's end today? All the action was around Goldberg!" Fulton asked, turning down his music a little.  
  
Portman lay on his bed. He thought he stayed there to protect her from Adam, if he made another repeat performance. He had been gone six months and had only been back one whole day and he could already tell something was up he wasn't being let in on. "I didn't want to get in the way," he answered truthfully, but it sounded more lame than honest.   
  
Fulton shrugged good-naturedly and pulled his covers up tight around his neck, "Sweet dreams, dude."  
  
Portman smiled and closed his eyes, letting the worries go. He hoped there would be another knock on the door that night, only he would open the door and Julie would fall into his arms. Wait, what? The sleep must have really taken over him by then. There wasn't a knock on their door for some time after that.   
  
A week went by and Dean felt totally submersed in homework by the time the weekend rolled around. He had only been able to attend one more hockey practice, thanks to his English homework, some stupid play by Shakespeare, something about taming shrews. Fulton helped him with his math to the best of his abilities, but soon gave up, finding that Portman was totally unreasonable when it came to simple logic. Even Charlie tried to help him with his Geography, but was kicked out in an hour. Portman was showing them he was no different from when he had left.   
  
But he was different. 


	4. Dean's Past

Disclaimer: I don't own the ducks. Shoot.  
Notes: Thanks for your reveiws, guys! So far, positive feed-back. Again, thank you!!!  
antiIRONY: Yeah, I know that Dean is from Chicago, that's where his mom and step-dad live, his dad lives in Ohio.  
  
"So," Fulton said casually when they were back in their own dorm room, "how long are you going to be in that thing? Is it permanent?" He tried to look relaxed, like his answer wouldn't really mean anything.  
  
Portman looked up from his math studies, Fulton wasn't being useful. "I don't know," he growled, "the doctors say it's most likely permanent. That's what happens when you get into a car drunk and the driver is a pothead." Of course, he was talking about his step-dad.  
  
His dad had always been one to drink, but not as much as him mom's boyfriend. He would always walk in after hockey practices to find his step-dad lying there on the floor, a bunch of old, homemade cigarette butts lying next to his hand. But he really had needed a ride that night, there was a hockey game. God, if only he hadn't been so stupid, he knew that if he got in trouble for being drunk again that they would send him off to live with his dad. But the alcohol relaxed him, and he needed it to get through a game against the Tigers.   
  
Then his mom had left to go out and buy the god-damned groceries and left him all alone with her new husband. He had planned on walking over to the game, since he was no good behind the wheel in his ripe state. Then his step-dad had come stumbling into the room, ranting something about being a better father, a more responsible father. He was off his rocker, but had forced Portman into the front seat of his rusty old pick-up and sped off, going in a completely different direction.   
  
Then the other car hit.  
  
It was dark and no one had their headlights on. Luckily for his step-dad, he walked away with a broken arm. But not Portman, the car had mainly crashed head-on with the passenger's side and injured his legs so severely that it tore too many of the muscles to fix. The judge shipped him away to his dad, which wasn't all that better, since he too, was an alcoholic, a violent one at that. He had been confined to the wheelchair ever since.  
  
"Sorry," Fulton said and went into the bathroom to take a shower. The radio blasted loudly from inside, echoing off the walls and sneaking out the door. As if that wasn't bad enough when Portman was trying to concentrate, Fulton started singing. Loudly.   
  
He tried to count to ten like the anger book had told him too, he must've counted to two-hundred before he started pounding on the door, yelling at Fulton that he sounded like a wounded duck and he would soon become one if he didn't shut up.   
  
Charlie stuck his head in at one point, screaming at Portman to shut up because the rest of the whole entire dorm could hear them. Portman yelled at him to be quiet so he could tell Fulton to shut his trap! That must've lasted for quite a while, because the next person who entered their room was the dean himself.   
  
"Up to the trouble-making AGAIN, I see, Dean," he shouted at him. "Turn down this racket immediately before I give you ALL detentions! And you don't exactly want one on your record now, Portman."  
  
"Then you get the big oaf to stop moaning!" Dean yelled, shoving past Charlie and going down the hall to…somewhere. He couldn't go to Ken and Luis's room, because Ken would be studying and he would again get yelled at. He didn't want to see Adam or Charlie, so he went right by their room, and he certainly didn't want to hear any corny jokes, so he rolled by Averman's room that he shared with Goldberg. He knew that Guy would be in Connie's room, because it was still an hour before curfew and who knew where Julie would be at. Dwayne and Russ walked right by him in the hallway, waving. They were headed toward the staircase.  
  
Anger still flustered inside him, so he took the elevator to the main floor and decided to go for a stroll. That should've taken his mind off things, he thought, shivering to himself in the cold. At least then he couldn't hear Fulton anymore. He rolled down the sidewalk, wondering where in the hell he was going. He soon found himself at the local pond; it had already frozen over for the winter that had just arrived.   
  
He saw someone skating on it, but who would be crazy enough to be at the pond this time of night in almost-freezing weather? Oh yeah, he would. He rolled closer without being seen, it was Julie. She was just skating around in circles absently, like she had no idea what she was doing. Then she fell down, Dean pushed forward to see if she was okay, but stopped when he saw Adam skating out to help her. He helped her up and said, "You okay Julie?" the sweetness in his words was enough to make anybody vomit.   
  
"Were you sp, spying on m, me?" Julie said through shaky breaths.  
  
"I asked if you were okay," Adam said, losing some of the sweetness.  
  
"I, I'm, I'm fine, Adam," she stuttered. It sounded to Dean like she was afraid of him or something.  
  
"Okay, Julie-girl," Adam said, creeping an arm around her waist when she tried to skate away.  
  
"Ad, Adam, please…" she stuttered again, trying to get out of his grasp.  
  
Adam pulled her to him and laid a kiss on her lips. That was enough for Portman to see, taking a walk hadn't made him feel any better, He turned quickly around and headed back to his dorm room, hoping that someone had taken Fulton away and locked him up somewhere.   
  
Then, before he went out of earshot, he heard Julie say something. He couldn't quite make it out, but then he heard a yelp and Adam shouted something at her. "Stupid lover's quarrel," he muttered jealously under his breath. He didn't need to take any more of it.  
  
Dean raced back to his room and the first thing he did was grab the radio in the bathroom and threw it out the window, despite Fulton's many protests. "I never threw your socks out the window, did I?" was his biggest complaint. He went back to his desk to try and understand his math. Fulton stormed out the door, slamming it as he went. Dean could hear him from out the window shouting at him, saying that he had broken the thing in two. He smiled.  
  
Within ten minutes, Julie came into their room, panting and holding her side. She limped into the room, "Where's Fulton?" was the first thing that came from her mouth.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Julie," he said, turning around in his chair.  
  
"Oh," she said, wincing, "hey Portman, where's Fulton? I really need to talk to him."   
  
"He went outside to try and salvage his radio," Portman said with a laugh.  
  
Her brow furrowed, "Well, when he gets back will you tell him to come to my room? It's really," she winced again, holding her side tighter, "really important." She moved to the door again.  
  
"Wait, Julie," Portman said before she put her hand on the knob, "what's wrong? Maybe I can help."  
  
She shook her head, "No, I don't think you can."  
  
"What makes you think I CAN'T? I'm still the same Portman! God, doesn't anybody SEE that?" Portman yelled at her.  
  
She stopped in her tracks, looking quite frightened. She took in a few rattled breaths, building up her courage, and said, "No, you're not the same Portman, so quit trying to act like it, alright? You don't know anything! Not about me or anybody else on the team! It's been half a year since you were in that accident and moved away and now you've come back and think everybody's just going to treat you the same! Well, guess what, a lot has changed that you know nothing about, so just stay out of it, OKAY?" she yelled as best she could.  
  
"Fine!" he yelled back, not even thinking, "Fine! Just leave, go find your precious Fulton, tell him EVERYTHING! Or Adam, I'm sure he knows a hell of a lot more than ME! Because I'm just dumb old Portman, the guy you should just exclude from all your problems, because of course he won't help, he's a gimp!"  
  
"God, you think it's all about you, don't you? I'm not telling you anything not because you're stuck in that stupid chair, I'm not telling you anything because it's none of your damn business!" she hissed at him and slammed the door shut, limping off to go who knows where.  
  
He stared at the door in shock. No one had ever told him that before, except his dad, but he learned not to listen to him a while back. "This is the whole reason I came back to Eden," he said to the door, "to be here with my friends. Now, one's mad at me for making noise, another one's mad at me for throwing his damn radio out the window, and another one's mad because I care about her." He quickly corrected himself, "I mean, she's mad because I'm worried about her. Ducks fly together, right?" He almost felt like waiting for the door to respond. "Shit, I'm going crazy," he mumbled, turning back to do his homework.   
  
Fulton didn't come back until two the next morning, feeling exhausted. He found Portman asleep at his desk, snoring almost as loud as his now-broken radio. He had half a mind to chuck HIM out the same window. If only he knew, if only Portman knew. Julie had told him all about the fight she had just had with Dean. He had pleaded with her, actually gotten down on one knee and begged for the chance to tell Dean what was going on, he needed to know. Someone needed to know. But, like the girl she was, she refused to let him say anything. Wonderful. 


	5. Adam Encounters

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the ducks, disney does - those lucky ducks.  
Shoutouts: Thank you to all who reveiwed my story! THANK YOU!  
  
For some weird reason he couldn't put his finger on, Portman went to the hockey rink that morning, since it was too cold and too dark to go outside to the pond. He brought his book, Taming of the Shrew, with him. He pulled it out of his sack and began to read, right there in the middle of the ice.  
  
"Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways," he read aloud. "What in the hell is THAT supposed to mean?"  
  
He stared blankly at the page, trying to figure out what half of the words meant, but he couldn't. "God," he said, "I'm so damn dumb!" With that, he threw the book across the rink where it hit one of the boards and lay limply on the ice. "Great, the spine is bent," he said, knowing that the library would make him pay a fine for it. He was still very upset at what had happened last night.   
  
"Yeah, I don't even know what it means," a voice rang out behind him.  
  
Adam skated up to him very fast with a strange smile on his face, it didn't fit him. "Hey Banks," Dean said, moving to go get his book.  
  
"Don't bother asking Julie about it, she's just as dumb as you are," Adam said, racing ahead to get his book.   
  
"Julie's not dumb," was the first thing that came to his head and the first thing out of his mouth. Damn, he was supposed to be mad at her. "I mean, Averman is dumber," he added.  
  
Adam let out a false laugh, that kid was acting really creepy today. He had seemed so welcoming at the airport. He bent down and grabbed the book. "What would you know about Julie, huh Portman?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I, uh," was all that came out. She's really pretty, wait, no, she's a hockey player; hockey players aren't 'pretty'. Hockey players are tough.  
  
"I saw her go in to your dorm room last night, what was that all about?" Adam asked, skating around the rink a couple of times, circling him.  
  
"She had to talk to…" he thought about it, did he really want to get Fulton in trouble? What, trouble? Cake-Eater couldn't land a punch on anyone if he tried. "She had to talk to someone, she was just asking around," he finished. It was a good excuse.  
  
"Tell Fulton to stay away from Julie," Adam said, looming over him. He had grown a good three inches since the last time he had seen old Banksie. Portman had the strangest urge to haul off and slug him one in the face. He wasn't anybody's messenger.  
  
"Yeah, whatever, can I have my book back?" Portman said gruffly.  
  
Adam started skating backwards slowly, showing no signs of giving him anything except a threat, "Portman, stay away from Julie, she's mine," he said icily.  
  
"I thought you two broke up," he said automatically. He couldn't even begin to picture them going out in the first place.  
  
He sneered at Portman, the big oaf, he didn't know anything - he shouldn't know anything. Julie was his whether the baby brothers liked it or not. "That's just what she thinks," he said coldly. He reached the door, "Have a nice day, Portman," he spat and threw the book hard at Portman's head.  
  
Portman caught it and Adam turned harshly to get off of the ice. The last thing he heard Portman say was, "Damn! It's all wet!" That brute certainly had a mouth on him.   
  
There was no way that Portman could tell anyone but Fulton about his conversation with Adam. It was spooky; this definitely wasn't the Cake-Eater he had left behind last summer. Julie was right; he didn't know the team, any of them anymore.   
  
He burst through his door that afternoon to find…Goldberg sitting on his bed eating a sandwich? Fulton was sitting on his bed, reading his own copy of Taming of the Shrew. "What the heck does 'bondmaid' mean?" he said without looking up.  
  
Goldie shrugged, "How would I know?"  
  
Thank God Goldberg hadn't changed. "Hey, what are you doing on my bed?" Portman asked harshly, seeing the crumbs that had surrounded Goldie.  
  
He looked down at his food and then back at Dean, "I'm helping my good buddy Fulton here study for the next English class."  
  
Fulton gave out a short laugh, "Every question I ask him, he says the exact same thing," he made his voice high, "'how would I know?'"  
  
That made a smile come to Portman's face, he sounded more like Connie when she was screaming at Guy for doing something stupid. He rolled over to his desk and opened up the bottom drawer. He then pulled out a cordless vacuum and tossed it Goldberg. "Clean your mess up," he ordered.  
  
"You actually own one of these things?" he said, giving the inanimate object a disgusted look.   
  
Dean gave out a hollow laugh, "Yeah, my dad gave it to me for my birthday two months ago, he said, 'put it to good use in your room, now go get me a beer.'" He rolled his eyes as the mini vacuum began suctioning up half of Goldie's lunch.   
  
After a while Goldberg got up and headed for the door, "Well, it's been nice talking with you all, but I gotta go," he said.   
  
"You're only leaving because you finished your sandwich," Fulton called after him with a sigh.  
  
"And what a tasty sandwich it was, I feel smarter already," he called back.  
  
The whole conversation with Adam didn't really feel all that important then to Portman so he just set it in the back of his mind and ignored it the rest of the day. They spent the rest of the daylight hours using the dictionary to get through the book. When they reached Act four, Scene Four, Dean threw his book against the wall again. He had given up trying to look up 'affied' and he stormed off to change his clothes so he could sleep.   
  
"Maybe I'll go for the sympathy angle," he told Fulton after turning out the light. "I'll tell her that I 'accidentally' dropped my book and ran over it with one of my back wheels and it ripped it in half, making it totally impossible to read," he sighed.  
  
Fulton chortled, "Can you 'accidentally' run over mine eleven times?"  
  



	6. Following Julie

Disclaimer: I don't own the ducks, sadly, Disney does.  
THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVEIWS!!!  
  
"Jesus H. Christ! We gotta get up! I've got a paper to write!" was the first thing Portman heard that morning. He groaned and turned to squint at his alarm clock. The flashing lights read, "10:00 a.m."  
  
"You need to chill, it's only a paper," Portman shrugged, running hand through his greasy hair. He needed to take a shower very badly.  
  
"JUST A PAPER?" Fulton screamed at him. Fulton had gone on 'hyper' mode that morning, "Just a PAPER?" he screamed again, racing to jam his notebook into already-overcrowded school bag. "That PAPER is going to have to get me an A plus to pass Science!" he yelled, putting a pen in his mouth. Fulton started rooting through his desk.  
  
"Remind me to never let you drink coffee again," Portman said, grabbing a handle on his chair and pulling it to him. When he hadn't managed the task of actually getting himself into it by himself, he recruited the help of Fulton. "Dude, will you hold my chair still for me?" he said, watching Fulton pull a shirt over his head.  
  
"Isn't that why they put brakes on it?" he called from the bathroom.  
  
"Fine! I don't need your help!" Dean said with a sudden burst of anger. Couldn't his best friend understand?  
  
"Damn!" he heard Fulton curse from the bathroom.  
  
"What's wrong?" he said, trying to pull himself into his chair again.  
  
Fulton walked out of the bathroom, a line of thick, oozing, blue ink dripping from the side of his mouth onto his shirt. Then he turned and walked out the door, forgetting his things.  
  
Portman couldn't help but laugh. Fulton was so pathetic at times.   
  
It took him an hour and a half to get in and out of the shower, so by the time he was dressed and ready to go eat breakfast; it was already time for lunch. He rolled down the corridor, stopping to grin at girls and hi-five his fellow teammates. "Good luck with your game on Tuesday," he had said to Guy.  
  
He had shrugged, "We only have to more days to practice and it's getting us nowhere, I wish you were still on the team," he had said honestly.  
  
Portman thought that Guy had just stabbed him through the heart. Didn't he know that he would give anything to play? He would've killed to play, strangled everyone within a fifty-mile radius in a heartbeat. He felt his face going red with frustration, "Yeah, well, I'll see you," he said, rolling off. What a great way to start a morning off…having one of his friends shove the best thing in his life, the only thing he couldn't have, right in his face.  
  
"Bye!" Guy called after him, clearly unaffected. Dean decided to skip lunch altogether.   
  
Dwayne sat right across the table from Julie in the library, trying to get through a book on physics. It was hard, but he had gotten through some of the tough parts to the amazement of everyone else. He wasn't THAT dumb. He sighed and closed his book, giving up. No one should have to study on a Sunday - or ever. He looked over at Julie and noticed a fresh scar on her arm.  
  
"Ow, that looks like a doozy of a cut," he commented.  
  
Julie threw her head up to look at him with surprise. She glanced at her arm and tried to hide it under the table, "It's no big deal," she said quietly.   
  
"No, here let me see it, I've gotten my share of them when I was trying to help with the birthing of the cows," he said, extending his hand, expecting for Julie to hand her arm over for closer inspection.  
  
"No, it's no big deal, really Dwayne," she said more loudly that time.   
  
"What's no big deal?" a booming voice called to them at the end of the table. Dwayne looked to the right quickly and saw Portman in his wheelchair. He still hadn't gotten over the shock of it. Just three years ago he had been totally intimidated by the large, bulky boy who inflicted bad music on his ears and poundings on his muscles. Now, what was the worst he could do? Run him over? He shouldn't be thinking that, it wasn't very kind at all.  
  
"Nothing Portman, just go away, alright?" Julie whispered. What was with her? Things were strange and confusing.   
  
Dwayne didn't want to be disrespectful, and butting in was no exception, but he had no idea what was going on, "Howdy Portman, watcha doing over here in the library?"  
  
"I'm allowed to be in the library, aren't I, cowboy?" Dean snapped at him. Typical Portman behavior.   
  
Dwayne just nodded.   
  
"What's wrong with Julie?" Portman asked. "What's with the cut, Jules?"  
  
"Nothing is WRONG!" Julie said, slamming her book shut and standing up. She walked self-consciously out of the library, trying to cover up her arm with her sleeve as fast as she could.  
  
"God, what's wrong with her?" Portman hissed, reversing his direction so he could turn around.  
  
Dwayne thought it very apparent, "Nothing," he said.  
  
"Shut up, Dwayne," he said, rolling away.  
  
Dwayne sighed; it was amazing the effect Portman had on people. He did the polite thing and waved to him as Portman left the library. No wave was returned. "Okay, I'll see ya'll later then," Dwayne sighed, returning to his book.   
  
Portman rolled down the hallway quickly, trying to catch up with Julie. It wasn't that hard, she was weighted down by all of her books. "Hey, Jules, what's up?" he called, trying to sound friendly.  
  
She did a double-take before slowing down and allowing him to roll beside her. "Nothing, Portman," she said, her eyes downcast at the floor.  
  
"You know you're going to run into a wall if you keep walking like that?" he joked, hoping she'd laugh. He hadn't heard her laugh since he arrived at the airport, it was sort of depressing.  
  
"Thanks for the warning," she mumbled, looking up slightly.  
  
"So, where are you headed?" he asked patiently. Wherever she was going, he was going to make an excuse to follow her. He had spent a lot of time with all of his other teammates, trying to re-discover them in a sense (he had taken Julie's angry words seriously), but he hadn't spent time with Julie. She kept making excuses to go to the library or her room or somewhere where she couldn't be bothered.   
  
"Oh, no place special, maybe the rink or…" she trailed off; making it apparent that she could no longer hear or see Dean. She shook herself physically and stuttered, "Maybe I'll just go back to my dorm, nice and safe, I mean quiet," she corrected herself hastily.   
  
"Good, I'll come with you," he announced.  
  
"No, you'd better not," she said, rubbing the place where her cut was under her sleeve. "Ada...I mean, Connie might get mad, you know how she likes her privacy," she shrugged, stopping in front of her door.   
  
"Connie's somewhere with Guy arguing," Dean said, opening the door and heading into her room.  
  
She stepped in behind him awkwardly; he knew she was very uncomfortable. "Listen, you can't stay, okay?" she said quickly, shutting and locking the door behind her.  
  
Julie was acting extra-freaked out, it almost scared him. Julie never locked doors, was she trying to hide him? "Okay, okay, I just wanted to talk to you, Julie," Dean shrugged, watching her make her way over to her bed.   
  
When he had finished his sentence, Julie stood rigid in the middle of the floor, only a footstep away from her bed. "Fulton told you, didn't he?" she asked, on the verge of tears. "That creep, he told you!" she whispered, throwing herself down on her bed. "It was supposed to be MY secret, no one was supposed to know!" she cried softly into her pillow.   
  
"Whoa, Fulton didn't tell me what?" Portman said, wheeling himself over to her side of the room, right next to her bed where she laid with her head facing the other way, refusing to look at him. His heart was going at a faster pace than it normally was and his hands were trembling for some odd reason.  
  
"What, he didn't? You don't know about…," Julie said, wiping a tear away.  
  
"Know about what? What's such a secret? Is it something bad?" he asked, reaching out to touch her hair. He had no idea what he was doing.  
  
She side-swiped his hand away from her head, "Nothing, it's nothing, I can deal with it."   
  
Portman gaped at her, what in the world was going on in her head? Julie Gaffney, where did she go? There was a prolonged pause that hung in the air; he was trying to come up with something to say. Was he supposed to just drop the subject? Or add on to it? What?   
  
Before he had time to say anything, Julie's arms were wrapped around his shoulders, clinging to him. What had just happened? Apparently he had just done something good. It felt good to have Julie in his arms, she smelled like lavender. It took him an awkward second to figure out that he should hug her back.  
  
It felt wonderful to Julie; it was like being swept away from it all, all the problems. She didn't hurt, she was protected. This was a feeling Fulton had never given her, but Fulton felt more like her brother. Dean didn't. She grasped more tightly.  
  
"I'm really glad you're back," she whispered.  
  
"You're glad, I'm glad!" Portman smiled, releasing her. "Good night," he said, wheeling backwards toward the door.  
  
She gave him a strong smile, "Night Dean," she said, waving a little.  
  
He left with the imprint of her smile stamped on the middle of his cranium. 


	7. The Outburst from Adam

Disclaimer: I don't own the ducks. Blah, blah, blah.

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS!! I LOVE YOU ALL!

"Get up, GET UP!" Fulton shouted at his friend, the lump.

"Yeah, yeah, water…" Dean mumbled from under his covers. Fulton had no idea what he was talking about.

"You want water? I'll give you water," Fulton threatened, headed toward the bathroom, an empty glass clutched in his hand. He came back with the glass brimming with water, "One…two…three," he counted slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, snugsfsfer," Dean mumbled again, swatting at Fulton to make him go away. He wanted to sleep. Could he make it any more obvious? Fulton poured water on his head. That certainly woke up him. It also woke up the rest of the people in the dorm.

"And THAT'S for breaking my radio," Fulton yelled triumphantly from inside the locked bathroom. He wasn't planning on coming out any time soon.

"Get over your damn radio," he could hear Portman sneer. "Did you finish your paper?" he asked.

"Yeah," Fulton said, slightly taken aback, how could Portman just change his mood like that? He should really learn how to do that; it could come in handy with all the things he juggled. "It took me a while, but I got help from Dwayne, that kid can really come in handy," he commented. He swore he heard Portman let out a small laugh.

"I'm going to class," Dean said, and then the door slammed shut. It was finally safe to come out.

At lunch, Portman tried to sit by Julie, but Adam kept manipulating the seating so she sat at the end and he sat right next to her. Adam kept throwing glances over at Dean, practically daring him to look at Julie. He noticed her lip seemed a little swollen; it was probably that knuckle puck Russ hit her with the other day.

"Sneaking peeks at Julie, huh Portman?" Charlie whispered in his ear.

"What? No, I'm just…" Dean looked around, "I'm just looking for something," he finished lamely.

"Just looking at Julie?" Charlie said with a grin.

"Keep your mouth shut, alright?" he snarled at Capitan Duck.

His grin grew wider, "Okay, alright, okay!" he said, putting his palms up in mock defeat. "I could ask her out for you," he added under his breath, staring at his eggs.

"Charlie, keep your big mouth shut!" Dean shouted at him.

All eyes flew to them. "Okay, I'm leaving," Dean added, and rolled away. He could have sworn he saw Adam glare at him.

"Hey Portman!" a girlish voice called out from behind him as he strolled down a pathway outside the school.  
He turned quickly and found that Connie was running to catch up with him. What would Connie want, she barely talked to him. "Um, hey, Connie," he said.  
"Hey," she panted, slowing down to a walk beside him. "Why were you yelling at Charlie in the cafeteria?" she asked with a devilish grin.  
"Nothing," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to yell, we just got into a heated talk about..." he couldn't think of what to say next, panic started to bubble in his stomach.  
"Hockey?" she laughed.  
Portman nodded vigorously. "What's the REAL reason you're talking to me?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.  
"Well, I, um," she stuttered, looking at the ground, "I'm worried about..." she took a big breath and let out a sigh, "Julie, alright? She's just...changed." Connie looked the other way, "When you left, Adam kept coming over more often, wanting to see if Julie could come to the movies or to the diner or to the rink, she was so happy."  
Dean's heart flinched.  
"Then, Julie broke up with him and she's been really different ever since. Adam still comes by once and a while, but she asks me to tell him she isn't in the room or something. She hardly ever talks, let alone smiles. Then you came back and..."  
"And what?" he snapped.  
"Well, I thought it would be different, I saw the smile she had on her face at the rink when we threw you that party. She laughed for the first time in two months, Portman," Connie looked him in the eye when she said the last part.  
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.  
Connie shrugged, "I don't know, you just seemed left in the dark or something."  
"Wow, thanks for that," he snarled, he wanted Connie to go away and quit talking about Adam.  
"Well, I've also noticed something else..." she said quietly. Dean looked up at her with sarcasm in his eyes, and she hastily added, "Julie's thrown herself into hockey as a back-up to Adam, or so she says. She comes back to our dorm room really late at night, sometimes her lip will be bleeding or she'll have bruises or cuts on her arms. Two weeks ago she came back with a real shiner around her eye," she said to the ground.  
"Well, what do you expect? She's the damn goalie!" Portman snapped at her again.  
Connie looked hurt by his outburst, but then ventured back, "Yeah, I know that, Portman! But did you see a single bruise on her the time we played Varsity in the showdown? Or at the Goodwill Games?"  
"No! But so what? Why are you telling ME this, why don't you tell Guy or something?"  
"Because Guy's an idiot," she whispered under her breath. "Because you like her," she said aloud.  
Dean stopped breathing and turned in silence to look at Connie. How in the world would she know anything about him?  
"And I thought it worried you too," she added.  
"What are you trying to imply?" he asked harshly. Of course he cared about Julie; she was one of his best friends for God's sake!  
"I thought you might be able, to you know, do something about it," she said hesitantly. "You're the only one she really listens to anymore."  
"Okay, I'm leaving," he said angrily and sped up, leaving Connie in his dust looking disappointed. Connie was...ugh, why couldn't she just mind her own damn business?!  
He couldn't like Julie, Julie was his teammate, Julie was his friend, Julie was...really cute. No! No! No! What was Connie saying? Everybody gets bruises playing hockey, even goalies. But she had a point...Julie had been, well, quiet.  
And what in the world was up with Adam? He had been acting really creepy and all protective over Julie. But that was Adam for you, when he wanted to do something almost nothing could stand in his way. But Julie should've been stronger; she broke up with him...so why was she so secluded now?  
"Oww! Watch where you're going, you stupid lump!" a voice yelled out in pain.  
Portman shook his head and focused his attention to the person he had just crashed into. Adam lay on the ground in front of him; his books sprawled over the ground. "Oh, sorry about that dude, I was just thinking," he shrugged apologetically and bent down to help pick up his books.  
"Oh, that's a good one...a bash brother, thinking!" Adam laughed hotly. "Just hand over my books and get out of my way," he snarled, grabbing his textbook out of Portman's large hands.  
"Chill, dude," he snarled back, sitting up straight again.  
"Just stay out of my way!" Adam yelled at him. Dean could see a fist curling at his side as he stood up.  
"Dude! Stop blowing up! I said was sorry!" Dean yelled at him.  
"I'm SO sure you are, you big goon! Quit following me!" Adam screamed at him. Everybody on campus was staring at them by that time.  
"I didn't DO anything!" Dean said, trying to calm himself down. The conversation had already gotten out of hand, he seriously didn't want to push it with Adam - he had connections.  
Adam didn't say anything, but his face turned more red and then slightly purple. Dean saw his fist come slowly out from his side and the next thing he knew, there was a sharp pain in his nose and he tasted something salty and slightly metallic on his lips. Blood. That physco just punched him the nose! For nothing!  
"What in the hell was THAT for!?" he yelled at him, pinching his nose hard to stop the flow of the blood.  
"Stay the hell away from me and STAY AWAY FROM JULIE!" Adam screamed at him and stalked away quickly, before Dean had the chance to punch him back. Why couldn't that big oaf just understand?! Julie was his and the Bash Brothers were just sticking their god damned noses into it. He HAD to put Portman in line.  
"Jerk," Portman muttered under his breath. His nose was still bleeding and the whole student body was staring at him. He was always the guy who punched OTHER people out. He felt like putting his fist through a wall and all he could do was go to class.  
  
Dean stormed into his room that night, knocking over the lamp on his desk and throwing his bag at the bathroom door. "Dude, what's got you so tweaked?" Fulton asked, popping his wet head out of the bathroom door.  
"Banks, god, do you know what he did today?" Dean yelled at Fulton, ramming into the side of his desk.  
"No, what?" Fulton said, running towel through his hair, he tried to seem relaxed, but it wasn't working. Dean and Adam together were not a good mix.  
"He punched me! Right in the nose, the stupid bastard! I accidentally bumped into him and he yelled the devil at me and slugged me!" Portman yelled at him, gripping his wheels so hard his knuckles turned white.  
"Wait, he punched you?" Fulton said, confused. Oh, God, why did Portman have to go and mess with Adam TODAY of all days? He had a paper to write and now he was going to have to listen to Dean rant about it all night. "Hold on, when did this happen?" Fulton asked worriedly. Adam could still be mad...  
Dean shrugged angrily, "Right before last period, boy, he should be glad I can't be out there playing hockey - I would've knocked him one," he yelled, punching his pillow.  
This could not be good, Adam would still be mad, and that would mean, "Oh shit," Fulton muttered under his breath, throwing on a shirt.  
"Hold it, where are you going?" Portman asked him, forgetting about how mad he was.  
"I'm going to Julie's dorm, don't wait up," Fulton answered, looking scared.  
"Wait, what?" Portman asked again, this was confusing.  
"Nothing, just...do your stupid homework! I'll be back later...I gotta go do...something," Fulton yelled at him, opening and slamming the door behind him quickly.  
Dean stared at the door, dumbfounded. What was that all about? "Shit, now my own roommate doesn't even want to be around me," he mumbled, remembering the anger and he grabbed his nose tenderly.


	8. The Pond

Disclaimer: I don't own the ducks, do I really need to repeat myself?

At around midnight, Fulton burst into the room looking extremely tired. "Of all the damn nights, you just HAD to pick THIS one to pick a damn fight with Adam, didn't you? I have a damn PAPER to write tonight, did you know that? If I don't get at least a damn A on it, I flunk Science! God, Portman, sometimes you can be so....so damn STUPID!" Fulton yelled at him, searching hurriedly through his desk looking for his notebook.  
"What the hell are you talking about, Reeds? HE'S the one who punched ME!" Dean said, sitting sleepily up in his bed.  
"Oh, and of course you didn't do ANYTHING to provoke him," Fulton yelled, grabbing his backpack angrily off of his bed. "Of ALL nights Portman..." he muttered under his breath, running his hands through his hair, searching for something.  
"Dude, what is UP with you lately?" Dean yelled at him. "You've been spazzing out all week and rushing off to do God knows what in the middle of the night and..." he continued.  
"Just shut up Dean, alright?" Fulton said fiercely, grabbing a pen from a drawer. "You don't know anything," he added absently.  
Dean let out a curt laugh, "Than why doesn't anybody TELL ME, for God's sake?"  
"You want to KNOW?" Fulton yelled. This was beginning to become a trend.  
"YEAH! Of COURSE I wanna know!" Dean yelled, he was probably going to get into big trouble with the Dean for making so much noise after hours, but it didn't matter. "I wanna know why you're always putting up with everybody's crap and why you just leave at all hours and why you can't even stand to be near me anymore! I wanna know what your god damned PROBLEM is!" he yelled.  
Fulton took a menacing step toward him, danger exploding in his eyes. "I'll 'explain' my problem to you in simple terms. I've got to come to this stupid room every night and pretend to understand my roommate's 'condition' and at the same time try to get all of my freaking homework done. Did you know that I'm this close to failing three classes? I'm going to get my ass kicked out of here if I don't bring them up in the next two weeks, that's one of my 'problems,' wouldn't you say, Portman?  
But if that isn't problematic enough for you, I've got to tend to Julie like a god damned nurse while trying to be a bodyguard against Adam! Yeah, that takes up a good portion of my day! And I'm probably going to be stuck dong it for the rest of my life because Julie is so wrapped up in her own stupid shell too!  
And on top of all of that, I've got to help Charlie change up the lines and still get to hockey practice on time. Yeah, that's going real well...I haven't been to practice in a week. If the grades don't kick me out, my athletic stuff will!" Fulton yelled at him, letting his backpack drop off his slumped shoulders. He felt defeated, but he needed an outlet. If he didn't get some sleep soon, he was going to lose it. To hell with his paper.  
Finally, Portman didn't say anything. Sweet silence. "I'm going to take a walk," he grumbled, grabbing for his chair.  
"You can't walk," Fulton muttered absently - he was just too tired. He let himself fall onto his bed. Maybe his paper could wait.  
"Shut up, Fulton," Dean snapped at him, "don't you think I already know that?" he said, opening up the door. He left, slamming it shut behind him. He was going to get caught for being out of his room after hours, but Fulton didn't care. Maybe getting a new roommate would be best. No, that was just the nerves talking.  
Portman wheeled angrily down the hallway, bumping into a wall here, getting caught in the plastic plants there until he was finally out of the building.- He went down to the pond, confused. He had never actually realized why Fulton was stressing so much, but if he was doing that badly on papers - why didn't he just ask for help?  
Thoughts of the conversation clouded his head until he was almost at the shore, but he had to stop short because of the branches that lay dead before him. He peered out onto the pond and saw Julie. What was she doing there? She certainly had an annoying habit of showing up when all he wanted to do was be alone.  
"I saw Fulton leave your room," an audible voice growled at her. Dean's ears perked up, he was hearing Adam, but he couldn't see him.  
"Oh?" Julie squeaked. "Um, he was just, um, looking for the homework assignment, you know, Adam," she stuttered, turning her back on Portman.  
"I know you told him! But there's nothing to tell! You get those bruises from hockey, don't you?!" Adam growled.  
Julie slowly nodded her head, "Yes," she answered quietly.  
"And you're just a lying, pathetic little girl, aren't you?" Adam sneered. He suddenly skated into view and grabbed Julie's wrist. "Aren't you?" he said, leaning very close to her face.  
And all Portman could do was watch. All of the emotions he had from his dad's beatings came back to him. Every punch echoed hurt through his muscles now, he cringed in his seat. He had to do something to get Julie out of there.  
She nodded her head in defeat.  
"God, you make me sick, you can't even stand up for yourself - you have to depend on your little 'bash brother' for protection from me. But I DON'T HURT YOU, JULIE! YOU HURT YOURSELF! YOU MAKE OTHER PEOPLE HURT YOU!" Adam yelled, pushing her onto the ice.  
She landed on her wrist and cried out in pain. This was too much for Dean to deal with.  
"Hey! Banks! Lay the hell off!" he yelled. Adam turned fiercely in the direction of his voice, so did Julie. Her face was beginning to turn red from the small tears that had fallen down her face.  
"Portman?" Adam screamed He turned on Julie, "You called him here! You stupid idiot!" he spat at her. He kicked her in the leg - hard.  
"Hey! Get away from her!" Portman yelled at him, wishing the logs weren't there in front of him, preventing him from getting on the ice. "You jerk! You creep! You don't deserve to live!" he yelled, searching for a place that was cleared.  
"I don't deserve to live? YOU don't deserve to live!" He yelled at Dean. Adam turned back to Julie, "You don't deserve to live either," he hissed.  
"Adam, let's just leave," Julie whispered, wiping away a tear.  
"Why?" he laughed cruelly. "The gimp can't get me out here, now CAN HE?" he screamed again over his shoulder at Dean who could only sit helplessly on the edge.  
"Hey!" Portman yelled at him.  
"You are so stupid, he can't even help you!" Adam said to the girl lying on the ice. She started to get up, but he pushed her back down forcefully. "If you EVER mess up one of our dates like this again I will, I'll..." he stumbled over his words in rage.  
"You'll do what? Put her in the hospital? Get yourself arrested for assault charges? Yeah, real smart Adam! Even your parents can't buy you out of this one!" Portman yelled at him from the sidelines.  
"Julie won't take this to court! She's not going to do ANYTHING," he yelled and turned back to Julie, "IF she knows what's good for her."  
"Hey! Lay off you bastard! She's going to press charges!" Dean screamed, making up Julie's mind for her. She shook her head violently at him, begging him to stop silently before he got her into even more trouble.  
  
"No! She won't!" Adam screamed back at him.  
Dean saw Julie slide herself away from Adam, but hit a rock when she tried. Adam looked over at her and she stood up and tried to run, but he caught her wrist. "Don't you run away from ME!" he yelled at her.  
"Adam, let go," she whispered, another tear running down her face from the incessant pain.  
"Why? So you can run away and blab to the whole school? Lie to them about me?" he said loudly.  
"Adam, that hurts," she whispered.  
"Let go of her, man!" Dena yelled again. His voice was getting hoarse and he was tired. If only this could've been a bad dream or something....  
"I'll let her go," he sneered in her face and shoved her back hard. So hard that she stumbled over her own feet and fell on her back, striking her head on the rock jutting up from the ice. She didn't get up.  
"Adam, what the hell did you do?" Dean screamed at him.  
He didn't reply - he just took a step back. "I didn't do that," he muttered to himself, "I didn't, she did. She made me...she brought it on herself," he said over and over again, backing away from Julie's unconscious form.  
"At least help her!" Dean yelled at him. He wanted to help her so badly, but he couldn't, god damn it. "Adam, get your butt over there and HELP HER!" he yelled at him, but Adam was long gone by then. "YOU STUPID BASTARD!" he yelled into the trees, hoping Adam would hear.  
"Julie? Jules? Can you hear me?" he called out to her, but she still didn't stir, her chest was barely moving up and down.  
He had to find some way to get to her. God, she could be hurt, she could have a concussion. His beautiful Julie could be...dead. There was no way to get out onto the ice, so he had to get back to the dorms.  
He started to push himself in reverse, but the wheels were stuck, vines had gotten into them. Mud and snow built up into them, he couldn't move. Perfect timing! Perfect god-damned timing.  
"Help! HELP!" he yelled with force into the night. "Hell, SOMEONE HELP!"


	9. From the pond to the hospital

Disclaimer: I don't own the ducks. You know the drill.

Dean wrung his hands through his hair, what in hell's name was he going to do? He couldn't get anywhere and his voice was giving out and Julie was lying out there on the ice, probably getting a blood clot and hypothermia. He had to help her! But what could he do? He didn't have his pocket knife with him to cut away the vines that ensnared the wheels and it's not like he could stand up and walk to her or anything.  
But he could try.  
Dean took in a shaky breath and raised himself out of his chair, making sure all the weight was on his arms and positioned his feet on the ground so he could stand. He had never tried this before. With a final breath, he let go of the handles on his chair and pulled himself into a standing position.  
He wobbled around and fell almost instantly. "Shit," he said, wiping away the snow and branches from his face. "That was so stupid," he muttered.  
Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't get back in his chair and the snow was beginning to seep into his turtleneck, making him shiver.  
He had to get to Julie, he had to rescue her. He couldn't walk, he couldn't do anything. Wait, he could crawl - army crawl - just like the doctor had told him to do to build up upper body strength. He began to pull himself through the snow, past the logs. It became easier when he actually got on the ice, it became slipperier. "Jules," he gasped when he reached her. He was terribly out of breath; he hadn't crawled like that for a while.  
"Jules, c'mon, wake up," he whined softly, running a shaking cold hand through her hair. He drew back his hand - it was covered in blood. He hadn't noticed the small pool lying next to her head. "Shit," he whispered, wiping his hand on the ice. He began to shake with the cold; it must've been below zero out there on the pond.  
Julie's lips were blue and the color was quickly draining from her cheeks - he had to keep her warm. He didn't have any extra clothing though. He draped himself across Julie to retain body heat; he knew that they both had hypothermia.  
"PORTMAN?" a voice echoed across the pond.  
He looked up sharply, the water leaking from his eyes slurring his view.  
"Portman? Dude, it's Fulton! WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR WHEELCHAIR?!" the voice screeched.  
"Fulton?" Dean said hazily. It was Fulton! He was running to him on the pond.  
"What the blue blazes happened to you?" he asked hysterically.  
Dean smiled, "Hey Fulton, you here to help Julie too?"  
He could see the color drain from Fulton's face; he looked like a ghost with a bandana. "Julie?"  
Dean rolled to one side, exposing her frail body.  
"Julie?" he squeaked again.  
"Adam, he..." Dean said, but felt the cold finally sink into his lungs, trapping them, pulling them, twisting them. He took in a sharp breath and let the world go...  
  
Beep. Beep. Beep.  
Dean opened his eyes groggily, his head hurt. A lot. What was that damn beeping noise? Why was everything so white?  
"Oh, God," he heard a familiar voice say. He opened his eyes a little more, where was he? He definitely hadn't been here before. "Dean?" the voice called again. It sounded far-off.  
"Don't call me that," he whispered gruffly. He could barely talk. When had this happened?  
"Portman! You're back!" the voice said again.  
"Who the hell ARE you?" he muttered as well as he could.  
"Don't you recognize me?" they said again, confusion hinting in their voice.  
"I can't see you," he said harshly. Why couldn't he just go back to sleep? People and their damn questions...  
A head popped into view, a dopey smile, long brown hair, it was Charlie.  
"Captain Duckhead?" he asked.  
"Portman!" he yelled.  
"Shut up, god, my head feels like it's been cracked open," Dean answered, rubbing his temple. He felt something tugging at his wrist and he looked at hit to see what had happened to it. There was a tube attached to it. He watched in amazement as the tube traveled up to an IV that was resting beside his...HOSPITAL BED?  
"Well, you've been out of it for most of the day, but at least you woke up," Charlie shrugged.  
"Where's Julie, what happened?" Dean asked, faintly remembering Adam and Julie and the pond. "What time is it, is she okay? What happened!?"  
Charlie drew in a shaky breath. "Julie's got the room right next to you. She hasn't woken up yet," he said quietly. "But it's only been a day, concussions can last for weeks on end, you know?" he added quickly. His nose scrunched up, "No, no, that's not what I meant. Julie's going to be fine."  
"Adam..." Dean growled, his fists drawing up at his sides.  
Charlie rolled his eyes, "Adam is back at the dorms. The superintendent won't kick him out because Julie hasn't decided to press charges yet."  
"That bastard almost killed her!" Portman yelled at him.  
"Take a breath, I'll get you some water," Charlie said calmly.  
"I want to see her," Dean admitted harshly.  
"You can't, you've been assigned bed rest for today, maybe tomorrow," a nurse said, popping into his room to swap out the IV bags.  
"What?" he yelled at her.  
"Keep your pants on, she's not even awake," the nurse chided.  
"I'm not wearing pants," Dean said with sudden realization. He was wearing a white and blue polka-dotted hospital gown.  
"You can see her in three days - minimum," she responded, checking the clipboard on the end of his bed. "Do you want a cherry popsicle or a grape one?"  
"What?" he asked.  
"I'll take grape," Charlie chimed in. "Since your on that thing," he pointed to the IV, "you can't have solid foods."  
"That makes NO sense," Dean answered tersely.  
"Take it or leave it," the nurse shrugged.  
"Leave it," Dean spat back.  
And the nurse left.  
"You know Julie will make it through this, she's a fighter, you don't have to take it out on other people," Charlie said, sitting back in his chair.  
"Shut up, Charlie," Dean whispered weakly. "I just want to go back to bed."


	10. Goodbye

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get up the next post...it's the last chapter (unless I decide to write a sequel or something) and I was on vacation. Hope you enjoy!

"How is she?" Dean demanded, sitting up rigid in his bed.  
"Geez, you've only been here for two days and you think you run the place," Averman said with a goofy grin.  
"How IS SHE?!" he yelled this time.  
"Okay, okay," Averman said sheepishly, putting up his hands in mock defeat. He sat down on the chair opposite the bed, "she's looking better, but not much. She just got back from surgery."  
Dean stared at him, contemplating thoughts in his head. He stopped, "WHAT surgery?" he demanded again, a fist forming.  
"Hold on, hold on," Averman repeated, scooting his chair back, in case that fist was meant for his nose. "She had to have a blood clot removed, but the doctors say she'll be better in no time," he assured him at a safe distance.  
"A blood clot," Dean repeated, staring at him. "A freaking blood clot, she could have DIED from a freaking BLOOD CLOT!" he yelled at his friend.  
"The doctors say she'll make a full recovery in a day," Averman said, concentrating on anything besides the fire flaming in Portman's eyes. "We'll all be able to see her tomorrow - if she's awake."  
"What the hell do you mean IF?" Dean shouted at him again, more nervous than angry. What was going to happen to Julie?  
Averman jumped back further, his back colliding with the wall, "Did I say if? I meant WHEN," he said, a note of panic in his voice.  
Dean rolled his eyes and let himself flop back into his bed. He could get up tomorrow - he could move around tomorrow. Finally. He had been stuck in the same bed for over four days because of the effect of the cold had on his legs. But he didn't care - he spent most of his time staring at the ceiling replaying that night's events over and over in his head.  
"I'm going to go and uh," Averman said quietly, "um, I'm just going to uh," he continued, inching toward the door. He kept stuttering until he reached the door and opened it. "Bye!" he called over his shoulder as he sprinted from the room.  
Dean stared at the ceiling, trying to burn a hole in it. They promised him that Julie was going to be better yesterday; she was going to wake up yesterday. But no, no freaking way was anything going to go right today! He was just supposed to wait around in a freaking sick bed for the next week and just 'wait and see.'  
"Portman?" a voice called from the doorway.  
"What do you want," he answered lamely. He couldn't place a name with the voice just yet.  
"Listen, I know how you feel about Julie and I wanted to say I'm sorry and we all miss you guys and..." the voice babbled on, a face coming into view. It was Connie - perfect timing.  
Dean rolled his eyes and continued to half-listen to the one-sided conversation.  
"Your doctor told me I could come in and tell you that you can get out of your bed any time now - your legs should be feeling better," Connie told him, a smile tugging at her lips.  
"Finally," he grumbled, throwing back the sheets and searching for his chair. "Will you unfold that for me?" he asked gruffly, pointing to his chair in the corner.  
Connie, feeling a little disappointed for not getting any praise for her news, did as she was asked and wheeled it over.  
"Thanks," he said, struggling to lift himself out of the bed.  
Once he had achieved success, he entertained himself by rolling up and down the hallways - driving the nurses mad and leaving Connie all alone in his empty room. He stared off into space, going down the kids' hall, only noticing the screening of "Snow White" in the playroom.  
He thought about Julie - that was the only thing TO do. She had always been such a great friend - even when he was having a 'jerk' moment. She put up with all kinds of crap from him and the team and the other girls at school, how could she stand it? She didn't deserve anything that happened that night on the pond.  
Now the emotions ran deeper. Julie wasn't just the goalie anymore - she was a beautiful person - Dean didn't know what to do. Just thinking about her then made him crazy, nervous, and lightheaded. He felt like he was going to lose it right there in the hospital - but he just kept rolling, making a sharp turn to jolt himself out of his trance.  
His brain kept thinking about every bit of Julie as the night wore on, he climbed into bed, whishing himself to sleep, but it didn't come. Her laugh, her smile, everything kept flooding in - every memory he had of her.  
  
"Portman! Portman!" someone yelled at him the next morning.  
"Get away from me," he commanded groggily, swiping his fist out in front of him uselessly. It had been three o'clock in the morning when he had finally fallen asleep. He just wanted to be left alone - hadn't they figured that out by now?  
"Portman! C'mon, wake up you big lump!" Fulton yelled at him, a wide grin on his face. He finally had good news.  
"Get AWAY FROM ME!" Portman yelled furiously, refusing to open his eyes.  
"PORTMAN! GET UP!" Fulton shouted playfully, shaking his best friend's shoulders.  
"Fulton! Get OUT! JUST GET OUT!" Portman shouted back angrily, pointing at the door.  
"Julie's awake!" Fulton told him excitedly, almost jumping at the sound of his own news.  
"Reeds," Dean said, opening his eyes and grabbing his friend's shirt, bringing his face close to his, "if this is some kind of sick joke - I will hurt you until you bleed," he hissed.  
"You," Fulton laughed, "need to calm down. I'm not joking."  
"She is?" he breathed, letting go of the fabric clutched in his palm.  
"Yeah - you want to go see her? She's alone right now," Fulton said with a grin, smoothing out the front of his 'Kiss' t-shirt.  
  
"Julie?" Dean called weakly into the sterile-white room.  
There were a few rustling sounds and grunt of pain and then a small voice called back, "Portman?"  
"Hey, Jules," he said meekly, wheeling himself into the room, closer to her bed. She looked awful - dark circles under her eyes, a bruise on her left cheek, a turban of white gauze surrounded her head, and there were even cuts and bruises around her wrist and hands.  
"Hey Portman," she sighed, smiling slightly. He looked exhausted - there were bandages wrapped around his forearms and neck and his mouth was crooked from a swollen lip. She felt sorry for him.  
There was an awkward moment of silence - neither one of them knew where to begin.  
"Julie, I've been thinking," Dean told her in all seriousness, rolling closer - right up to her bed. "You should tell someone - you need to press charges or something. What Adam did was wrong."  
"Yeah, yeah - I know," Julie sighed, looking uncomfortable. "But I thought about it too - I'm not going to do anything. Adam has to live with it - I can get over it."  
"No!" he yelled, getting angry. "Adam is a stupid bastard and deserves to be punished! Don't you think the doctors are going to ask you what happened? What are you going to tell them? The same lie you told me?" he shouted, his temper boiling.  
"Dean, calm down," she sighed, looking quite sad. Her eyes drooped, "I had Fulton tell them I had an accident on the ice - I wasn't looking where I was going. No one is getting blamed - it was just an accident. If you think about it - it was an accident. Adam just flies off the handle sometimes - it's not his fault - he has a lot of pressure on him from his father and the scouts and the dean..." she babbled, trying to force herself to believe the lies that were spilling out of her mouth. Her insides were crumbling with every word.  
He stared at her - she couldn't actually think that, could she? "Julie that's a whole bunch of bull and even you know that," he said absently -staring at her rigid face. He felt helpless.  
"Dean, why were you there? Why did you try to walk?" Julie asked him, staring at a spot on the ceiling.  
He shrugged - he had no idea either. "I had to help you - I mean, there was no way I was going to let anything happen to you. Looks like I failed," he said, staring at his bandages fingers - one of them had stitches on it and was leaking blood onto the band-aid again.  
"You did that for me?" she asked weakly, turning her head painfully to look at him.  
"Well yeah - I care about you," he stuttered - that wasn't something he said everyday.  
"Really?" she asked, her face showing no emotion.  
"Jules, I..., I..." he stuttered again, picking at his fingernail. He looked at her, "I mean, Jules, I love you," he told her, shaking his head.  
"You what?" she whispered. Things were never going to be the same again. Now her decision was even harder to make.  
"Julie, I love you," he said again, staring her in the eye with a small grin.  
She didn't say anything - she didn't even smile.  
He stiffly leaned forward, closer and closer until their noses almost touched. Julie didn't do anything - she just let him - she was too tired. He took the plunge and kissed her right there.  
His pace quickened - was he actually doing what he thought he was doing? Was he kissing the team goalie? Yeah, yeah he was he assured himself.  
"Dean," she said, pulling away and staring at the ceiling. She shook her head slightly.  
"Sorry," he muttered, leaning back in his chair, embarrassment burning across his face.  
She continued to stare at the ceiling with a stony expression. "I can't do this," she said.  
"Can't do what?" he asked softly. He just wanted to leave.  
"I'm leaving."  
"You're WHAT?" he said, his eyes growing wide.  
"I called my mom this morning - she's letting me come back home. I'm leaving to go back to Bangor as soon as I'm out of here," she said gravely, not daring to look him in the eye now.  
"WHAT?" he shouted, narrowing his eyes. She couldn't just leave!  
"I'm going away for the rest of the year - I'm going home to sort stuff out," she said, close to tears. She felt awful for keeping this from him and her teammates.  
"Are you coming back?" he shouted, gripping his chair until his knuckles turned white.  
She shrugged feebly, "I don't know," she answered.  
  
"So, no one knows you're leaving?" he asked, rolling beside her through the airport doors.  
She shook her head gently, "It'd be best not to tell them," she told herself. She took out her ticket - she had twenty minutes before she had to get on the plane back to Maine.  
They walked silently to the terminal, keeping their eyes to anything but the other. "Guess I'll see you...later," he shrugged.  
Julie nodded, "Yeah, I'll write to you guys - I'll give you a call," she promised.  
Dean nodded, "I'll do the same," he assured, watching a plane take off through the window.  
"Well, they're boarding now," Julie told him, her heart breaking as she spotted the door that led to the plane.  
"Well," he said monotonously, "G' bye."  
"Bye," she said, adjusting her shoulder strap. Julie waved to him as she walked slowly to the doors, her ticket in hand.  
Dean watched his best friend give him one last smile before she stepped out of sight. He sighed - she was gone. He turned around slowly and started for the door once more.  
"Portman!" a voice called behind him.  
"Yeah?" he said, looking back expectantly.  
Julie ran toward him, a painful smile on her face. "You've got to promise me one thing before I leave," she said, grabbing his hand.  
"Anything," he shrugged, swallowing a lump in his throat. She hadn't come back - Julie hadn't changed her mind. She was leaving him after all she had put the whole team through.  
"Don't beat Adam to a bloody pulp, okay?" she grinned.  
His face fell, "Yeah, yeah," Dean muttered gruffly. Julie had foiled his plans. "Whatever. You know Adam deserves it though," he added.  
"And promise me that you'll never change and never forget about me, okay?" Julie asked him, grasping his hand tighter. She felt like crying again.  
"I'd never do that," he responded immediately. "You've saved my life more than one time - you rescued me from my dad and from Ohio and from every other damn thing I've been through since I've met you - there's no way anyone could forget you," Dean told her, shaking his head up at her.  
"Thanks," she said with a grin. She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'll never forget you," she whispered, walking away.  
  
Dean watched Julie's plane take off, he waved it away. "Good bye Jules," he called after it, placing his hand on the glass. It was over. Julie Gaffney was gone.


End file.
